Indianapolis-based Duke Realty Corp. slightly exceeded analyst estimates with it financial performance in the fourth quarter, the company reported Wednesday.

Duke said core funds from operations for the quarter were $78.2 million or 30 cents per share, compared to $73.9 million, or 28 cents per share, in the same quarter of 2010. Fourteen analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected core FFO of 29 cents per share for the recent quarter.

FFO is a common performance measure used by real estate investment trusts.

Duke reported earnings attributable to shareholders of nearly $45 million, or 17 cents per share, compared to $9.6 million, or 4 cents per share, the year before.
Revenues for the quarter grew to $305.6 million, up from $280.8 million the year before.

Duke closed on its $1.1 billion sale of suburban office buildings in the fourth quarter and made $388 million in acquisitions.

The company said the overall occupancy rate in its real estate portfolio rose to 90.7 percent.